System and method for icon oriented representation of trading strategies

ABSTRACT

A system and method for visually establishing a trading strategy are described. According to one method, a trader can position a first icon corresponding to a first order and a second icon corresponding to a second order in relation to a first value axis displayed on a graphical interface. A graphical means can also be used in relation to the icons to show that the icons correspond to a trading strategy. The graphical means can include lines, numbers, or any other user-configurable graphical representation illustrating order precedence, for example.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. Patent ApplicationSer. No. 11/416,399 filed May. 2, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,702,569,which is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 10/749,000filed Dec. 30, 2003 now abandoned which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/504,947, entitled “Icon OrientedExecution Interface” filed on Sept. 22, 2003, the entire contents ofeach of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed towards electronic trading. Morespecifically, the present invention is directed towards icon objectoriented execution interface and trading using thereof.

BACKGROUND

In recent years, a trend towards electronic trading has becomewell-established, causing one major exchange after another to replace orat least supplement the traditional open outcry, where a trade is doneface to face, with automated, electronic systems which automaticallymatch bids and offers. While the motivation behind using electronictrading may vary from market to market, greater efficiency and volumeare some of the considerations.

In particular, subscribing traders are connected to an exchange'selectronic trading platform by way of a communication link and throughan application program interface to facilitate real-time electronicmessaging between themselves and the exchange. The electronic messagingincludes market information that is sent from the electronic market tothe traders. Market information commonly includes information regardingthe inside market and market depth. The inside market is the lowest sellprice in the market and the highest buy price in the market at aparticular point in time. Market depth refers to quantities available atthe inside market and may also refer to quantities available at otherprices away from the inside market. The quantity available at a givenprice level is usually provided by the host exchange in aggregate sums.In other words, a host exchange usually provides the total buy or thetotal sell quantity available in the market at a particular price levelin its data feed. The extent of the market depth available to a traderusually depends on the host exchange. For instance, some host exchangesprovide market depth for all or many price levels, while some provideonly quantities associated with the inside market, and others mayprovide no market depth at all. Additionally, host exchange can offerother types of market information such as the last traded price (“LTP”),or the last traded quantity (“LTQ”).

Just as with an open-outcry exchange, an electronic exchange can listany number of tradeable objects. Often times, traders willsimultaneously trade more than one tradeable object, and they maysimultaneously trade tradeable objects that are listed at more than oneexchange. Ordinarily, each tradeable object has its own separate streamof market information. Therefore, in these instances, the traders willgenerally receive more than one stream of market information such thateach stream of market information attempts to characterize a giventradeable object.

Once the traders receive market information, the market information maybe displayed to them on their trading screens. Upon viewing theinformation, traders take certain actions including the actions ofsending buy or sell orders to the electronic market, adjusting existingorders, deleting orders, or otherwise managing orders. In general,traders may use trading screens to enter orders into the market, and toobtain and view market information. Traders may also use software toolson their client devices to automate these and additional actions.

To profit in electronic markets, however, market participants must beable to assimilate large amounts of data, including market information,and react to the received data more quickly than other competing marketparticipants. It is therefore desirable to offer user-friendly toolsthat can assist a market participant in making desirable trades.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments of the present invention are described herein withreference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an example network configuration for a communication systemutilized to access one or more exchanges;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example client device that canbe used to carry out the example embodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example icon orientedexecution application that can be used to carry out the embodiments ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 4A-4B are a flow chart illustrating an example method for tradingusing execution icons;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a plurality of graphical iconsthat can be used to represent a plurality of order types;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating one example order executiontoolbar including a plurality of order type icons;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating one example trading strategyincluding an Order Cancel Order (“OCO”);

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating two example trading strategiesdefined using a plurality of order execution icons;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another example embodiment of atrading strategy defined using a plurality of order execution icons;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are block diagrams illustrating example graphicalinterfaces that be used by a trader to place orders;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are block diagrams illustrating example graphicalinterfaces that can be used by a trader to configure a trading strategy;

FIGS. 12A-12C are block diagrams illustrating example graphicalinterfaces that can be used to display different order states accordingto one example embodiment; and

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a graphical interface that atrader can use to automatically adjust order quantities corresponding toorders associated with a trading strategy according to a preset riskmanagement method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. Icon Oriented Representation of Trading Strategies

The present invention includes methods, systems, and graphicalinterfaces that provide tools that can be used by a trader forelectronic trading. By using preferred embodiments, a trader is providedtools that can assist the trader in making desirable trades and inconfiguring and monitoring orders in a user-friendly manner.

In one preferred embodiment, a graphical interface for visuallyestablishing trading strategies is provided that enables a trader toquickly and effectively establish and view status of the tradingstrategies. In one embodiment, the graphical interface may include avalue axis, such as a price axis or any price derivative axis, that atrader may use as a reference to establish a trading strategy.Preferably, the graphical interface also includes a toolbar that can beused to display a plurality of icons associated with a plurality oforder types that are provided by an electronic exchange in relation to atradeable object selected by a trader for trading. According to oneexample embodiment, a trader could establish a trading strategy bypositioning a first icon in relation to any point on the value axis,such as in relation to any price level displayed in relation to a priceaxis. Then, the trader could select at least one second icon to be partof the trading strategy, and the at least one second icon could also bepositioned on the graphical interface. According to a preferredembodiment, the graphical interface also displays graphical means inrelation to the selected icons, and the graphical means is preferablyused to visually show a relationship between the orders associated withthe icons corresponding to the created trading strategy. As will bedescribed in greater detail below, the relationship between the ordersmay indicate order execution precedence, such as order dependency.However, different relationships between the orders could also be shownusing the graphical means. Also, the graphical means could take manydifferent formats, including, but not limited to arrows linking theindicators and showing the order precedence, or any numerical or otherindicator types displayed in relation to the order indicatorscorresponding to the created trading strategy.

While the present invention is described herein with reference toillustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should beunderstood that the present invention is not limited thereto. Thosehaving ordinary skill of art will recognize that many additionalmodifications and embodiments are possible as well.

II. Hardware and Software Overview

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example trading system inaccordance with the preferred embodiments. The system includes a hostexchange 100, a gateway 102, and a client device 104. FIG. 1 illustratesa single client device that is connected to a single exchange via agateway; however, it should be understood that a plurality of clientdevices could connect to a plurality of exchanges via a plurality ofgateways.

Although each referenced component in FIG. 1 is described directly belowin their respective sections, it should be understood that thecomponents may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software andhardware aspects. Furthermore, some of the components of FIG. 1 may takethe form of a computer readable medium having a computer readableprogram code means embodied in a storage medium. Any suitable computerreadable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMS, opticalstorage devices, or magnetic storage devices. Also, it should beunderstood that the preferred embodiment may be implemented on manyother system configurations.

A. Exchange

According to one example embodiment, host exchange 100 may include basicor more complex systems that automatically match incoming orders. Someexample exchanges include the London International Financial Futures andOptions Exchange (“LIFFE”), the Chicago Board of Trade (“CBOT”), theChicago Mercantile Exchange (“CME”), the Exchange Electronic Trading(“Xetra,” a German stock exchange), the European exchange (“Eurex”), orEuronext. Exchange 100 might also refer to other known or laterdeveloped facilities that automatically match incoming orders that arereceived from client devices. The example exchanges and other exchangesare well known in the art.

Exchange 100 allows traders to trade tradeable objects that exchange 100offers for trading. As used herein, the “tradeable object” refers simplyto anything that can be traded with a quantity and/or price. Itincludes, but is not limited to, all types of tradeable objects such asfinancial products, which can include, for example, stocks, options,bonds, futures, currency, and warrants, as well as funds, derivatives,and collections of the foregoing, and all types of commodities, such asgrains, energy, and metals. The tradeable object may be “real,” such asproducts that are listed by an exchange for trading, or “synthetic,”such as a combination of real products that is created by the user. Atradeable object could actually be a combination of tradeable objects,such as a class of tradeable objects.

According to the preferred embodiments, to keep participating tradersinformed of changes in a market, exchange 100 relays market informationover a transmission channel 108 to client device 104 via gateway 102.Transmission channel 108 can include any connection types being used byexchange 100, such as a T1 line, for example, and the transmissionchannel can carry information in either analog or digital format. Itshould be understood that exchange 100 could use a number of differentcommunication protocols for connecting and sending market information toclient devices. For example, exchange 100 can connect to client device104 via gateway 102 using TCP/IP, and can provide market informationusing the Financial Information Exchange (“FIX”) protocol, which is amessaging standard developed specifically for real-time electronicexchange type transactions. FIX is a public-domain specification ownedand maintained by FIX Protocol, Ltd.

Market information that exchange 100 sends to client device 104 viagateway 102 may include data that represents just the inside market,where the inside market is the lowest sell price (best offer) in themarket, and the highest buy price (best bid) in the market at aparticular point in time. Market information may also include marketdepth, where market depth refers to quantities available at the insidemarket and can also refer to quantities available at other prices awayfrom the inside market. It should be understood that market informationcan also contain other types of market information such as the lasttraded price (“LTP”), or the last traded quantity (“LTQ”). Additionally,the market information that is sent to a single trader may include orderand/or fill information related to orders associated with that trader.

Once a trader submits an order to an exchange, the exchange may processthe order using different execution algorithms, and the type of thealgorithm used may depend on the tradeable object being traded. Someexample order execution algorithms include first-in-first-out (“FIFO”)and pro-rata algorithms. The FIFO algorithm, used for some tradeableobjects listed with Eurex, for example, gives priority to the firstperson in an order queue at an exchange to place an order. The pro rataalgorithm, used for some tradeable objects listed with LIFFE, forexample, splits orders for the same price, and the orders at identicalprices are filled in proportion to their size. Also, it should beunderstood that the price order queue is a term that covers a broadrange of systems used by an exchange to conduct orderly financialtransactions such as, for example, a FIFO based system or a pro ratasystem. Also, the present invention is not limited to any particulartype of order execution algorithm, and different algorithms could alsobe used.

B. Gateway

According to the preferred embodiment, gateway 102 can be a computerrunning software that receives market information and order informationfrom host exchange 100. As used herein, a computer includes any devicewith memory 110 and a processor 112 capable of processing information toproduce a desired result. Thus, gateway 102 can be a computer of anysize such as a server, workstation, personal computer, or laptop, but,generally, gateway 102 can be any computer device that has theprocessing capability to perform the function described herein. Also, itshould be understood that the functions of gateway 102 could be moved tohost exchange 100 and/or client device 104 to reduce or eliminate theneed for gateway 102.

In the preferred embodiment, gateway 102 receives market information aswell as order related data from host exchange 100, and forwards thereceived data to client device 104. In one embodiment, while marketinformation may be transmitted between exchange 100 and client device104 using multicast transmission, order related information, such asorder fills, order requests, or order modification requests aretypically sent using unicast transmission. As known in the art, whilethe multicast allows for communication between a single sender andmultiple receivers in the network, the unicast only allows forcommunication between a single sender and a single receiver. It shouldbe understood that while there are many possible protocols that can beused to multicast and unicast information between exchange 100 andclient device 104 via gateway 102, the Pragmatic General Multicast(“PGM”) protocol could be used for multicasting, and the Point to PointProtocol (“PPP”) could be used for unicasting, for example.

Also, as known by those skilled in the art, gateway 102 may have one ormore servers to support data feeds that are received from exchange 100.In one embodiment, gateway 102 may include a price server 114 forprocessing price information, an order server 116 for processing orderinformation, and a fill server 118 for processing fill information.Generally, a server is software that responds to commands from clientdevice 104 in form of subscription. That is, a trader at client device114 can subscribe to price information, order information, and fillinformation for a particular tradeable object being offered at hostexchange 100. In one embodiment, the subscription may be established viaa process of sending a number of messages between client device 104 andgateway 102. For example, gateway 102 may first authenticate a trader atclient device 104, and then client device 104 may establish separatecommunication links, such as IP links, to each server at gateway 102. Inthe embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, client device 104 would establishthree separate IP connections to three servers at gateway 102.

Price server 114, order server 116, and fill server 118 receiveinformation from exchange 100. According to a preferred embodiment,price server 114 may receive and process price information related toone or more tradeable objects being offered at exchange 100, while orderserver 116 may receive and process order related information. In oneembodiment, exchange 100 may be connected to gateway 102 using twocommunication links, a first link between exchange 100 and price server114, and a second link between exchange 100 and order server 116. Insuch an embodiment, a separate connection may exist between order server116 and fill server 118 such that, when the order information that isreceived at order server 116 includes any fill related information,order server 116 may pass the fill data to fill server 118, which maythen process and send the fill data to client device 104. It should beunderstood that the gateway configuration described above is only oneexample, and different implementations are possible as well.

C. Client Device

Client device 104 can be a computer, such as a workstation, desktop,laptop, handheld device, and so forth, that allow a trader to trade oneor more tradeable objects that are offered at exchange 100. Clientdevice 104 may include at least processor and memory. The processor andmemory, which are both well-known computer components, are not shown inthe Figure for sake of clarity. Preferably, the processor has enoughprocessing power to handle and process various types of marketinformation. The more market information is received and processed, themore processing power is preferred. However, any present day processorhas enough capability to perform at least the most basic part of thepresent invention.

Memory may include a computer readable medium. The term computerreadable medium, as used herein, refers to any medium that participatesin providing instructions to a processor unit for execution. Such amedium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatilemedia, and transmission media. Non-volatile media include, for example,optical or magnetic disks, such as storage devices. Volatile mediainclude, for example, dynamic memory, such as main memory or randomaccess memory (“RAM”). Common forms of computer readable media include,for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tape,punch cards, CD-ROM, or any other physical medium with patterns ofholes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, and any other memory chipor cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read.

Client device 104 can communicate with gateway 102 via differentnetworks, such as Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Wide Area Network(“WAN”), or a wireless network via a Virtual Private Network (“VPN”),for example, or a combination thereof. Also, gateway 102 and clientdevice 104 can communicate order and market related information usingany messaging protocols, such as any proprietary messaging protocols.However, it should be understood that different networks and differentmessaging protocols could also be used.

When client device 104 receives market information and order relatedinformation from exchange 100, the received information may be displayedto the trader(s) on the visual output device or display device of clientdevice 104. However, it should be understood that the information couldbe provided to a trader using other means such as sound. The outputdevice can be any display device. For example, the display could be aCRT-based video display, an LCD-based or a gas plasma-based flat-paneldisplay, a display that shows three-dimensional images, or some othertype of display.

Upon viewing the market information or a portion thereof, a trader maywish to send orders to an exchange, cancel orders, change orders, queryan exchange, and so on. To do so, the trader may input various commandsor signals into client device 104 such as by typing into a keyboard,inputting commands through a mouse, or inputting commands or signalsthrough some other input device. For instance, a trader may click amouse button to initiate an order to buy a particular quantity of thetradeable object at a particular price. Then, client device 104preferably generates transaction information. There are many differenttypes of messages and/or order types that can be submitted, all of whichmay be considered various types of transaction information. Oncegenerated, transaction information is sent from client device 104 tohost exchange 100 over communication links.

In the preferred embodiment, client device 104 uses software to createspecialized interactive trading screens on terminals associated withthem. Trading screens preferably enable traders to, among other things,enter and execute orders, obtain market quotes, and monitor positions.The range and quality of features available to the trader on his or hertrading screen may vary according to the specific software applicationbeing run. In addition to or in place of the interactive tradingscreens, client device 104 could run automated types of tradingapplications.

The preferred embodiment may be implemented on any type of tradingscreen, therefore, details regarding the trading screen are notnecessary to understand the present invention. However, in oneembodiment, one type of trading screen that can be used is provided by acommercially available trading application referred to as X_TRADER® fromTrading Technologies International, Inc. of Chicago, Ill. X_TRADER® alsoprovides an electronic trading interface, referred to as MD Trader™, inwhich working orders and/or bid and ask quantities are displayed inassociation with a static price axis or scale. Portions of the X_TRADER®and the MD Trader™-style display are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,772,132, entitled “Click Based Trading With Intuitive Grid Display ofMarket Depth,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,424, entitled “Click Based TradingWith Intuitive Grid Display of Market Depth and Price Consolidation,”U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,268, entitled “Trading Tools For ElectronicTrading,” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,289, entitled “System and Method forTrading and Displaying Market Information in an Electronic TradingEnvironment,” the contents of each are incorporated herein by reference.However, it should be understood that orders in the system illustratedin FIG. 1 could also be placed using any other trading application aswell. Additionally, the preferred embodiments are not limited to anyparticular product that performs translation, storage, and displayfunction.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example client device 200,which may be similar to the type of client device 104 shown in FIG. 1.The client device 200 can be any particular type of computing device,examples of which were enumerated above. According to the preferredembodiments, the client device 200 has a trading application 202 and anicon oriented execution application 204, both of which could be storedin a memory unit. For example, the trading application 202, whenexecuted, may arrange and display market information in many differentways, depending on how the trader prefers to view the information.

The icon oriented execution application 204 can implement theembodiments for trading using a plurality of graphical iconsrepresenting order types being offered in relation to one or moretradeable objects selected by a trader for trading, the embodiments ofwhich will be described in greater detail below. Preferably, the tradingapplication 202 and the icon oriented execution application 204 haveaccess to market information through an application programminginterface (“API”) 206, and the applications can also forward transactioninformation to the host exchange 212 via the API 206. Also, the tradingapplication 202 and/or the icon oriented execution application 204 couldreceive other types of data, such as news related data, through the API206 from outside sources.

Additionally, the trading application 202 and the icon orientedexecution application 204 could receive signals from an input device 216via an input device interface 210, and can be given the ability to sendsignals to a display device 214 via a display device interface 208, theembodiments of which will be described in greater detail below.

III. Icon Oriented Representation of Trading Strategies

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an icon object oriented executionapplication 300 that may be used for carrying out the present invention.The icon oriented execution application 300 includes an icon librarycomponent 302, an icon selection component 304, a graphical userinterface (“GUI”) interaction component 306, and an icon processingcomponent 308. The components 302, 304, 306, and 308 may includesoftware and/or hardware elements to perform their functions. However,it should be understood that the icon oriented execution application 300may include more or fewer components than those illustrated in FIG. 3.Also, the illustrated components could be combined with othercomponents. For example, the icon oriented execution application 300could be combined with the trading application components of aparticular client device.

The icon library component 302 may store different types of executionsicons representing order types available at different exchanges. In oneembodiment, the icons may be grouped based on an exchange, such thatwhen a trader connects to an electronic exchange, the icon orientedexecution application 300 may automatically retrieve and provide to thetrader a specific set of icons corresponding to the order typesavailable at the selected exchange. It should be understood that theembodiments described hereinafter are not limited to any specificexchange order types, and order types could include any equity,derivative, foreign exchange, or bond order types, for example.

According to example embodiments, the order execution icons may takemany different graphical formats and can be user configurable. Forexample, the icon library component 302 can include a plurality ofpreset graphical icon representations corresponding to different ordertypes being offered at one or more exchange, the example embodiments ofwhich will be described in greater detail in reference to subsequentfigures. However, the format of execution icons could also be modifiedbased on the user preferences. The modified execution icons could alsobe saved in the icon library component 302.

Once a trader connects to an electronic exchange, the icon selectioncomponent 304 may select and display to a trader via the outputinterface 316 a set of icons corresponding to the order types beingoffered at the selected exchange. In addition to defining icons based onorder types, different icons could also be used for different tradeableobjects that a trader selects for trading. In one embodiment, a tradercould select a symbol, a character, or an indicator to represent atradeable object, and the selected representation for the tradeableobject could be displayed in relation to order execution iconscorresponding to different order types associated with the tradeableobject. Also, it should be understood that the icons could takedifferent formats to represent a buy order and a sell order, and theicon size could be used to represent and control an order quantity.Thus, each icon, when used by a trader, may be already auto-populatedwith a set of parameters including, but not limited to, an exchangeidentifier, a tradeable object identifier, a quantity, an order typeidentifier, and an identifier representing a buy or a sell.

The GUI interaction component 306 may allow a trader to initiate theprocess of placing an order to an exchange using one of the icons.According to one example embodiment, when a trader selects a tradeableobject that she wishes to trade, the icon oriented execution application204 may display to a trader an icon oriented execution interface thatthe trader may use in combination with the icons to preconfigure ordersand/or trading strategies that can be submitted to one or more exchangesonce one or more conditions defined by a trader are satisfied. It shouldbe understood that conditions defining when an order should be submittedto an exchange can take many different formats. For example, an orderassociated with an icon can be sent to an exchange when the iconoriented execution application 300 detects placement of an icon on thegraphical interface, or when a fill associated with another order isdetected, or upon detecting a predetermined time defining when an orderassociated with an icon should be submitted to an exchange. However, itshould be understood that different conditions defining when the tradingapplication 202 should be ready to send an order or a plurality oforders associated with a trading strategy to one or more exchanges couldbe defined as well.

The icon oriented execution interface may take many different formats,some of which will be illustrated in the subsequent figures. Forexample, the interface may include a value axis, and a trader may usethe value axis as a reference for placing order icons on the iconoriented execution interface. In one preferred embodiment, the valueaxis may display prices associated with a tradeable object selected by atrader for trading, any derivative of prices, or volatility of someuser-selected values. However, it should be understood that the valueaxis is not limited to displaying prices, and it could also displaydifferent values as well, and more than one value axis could also bedisplayed in relation to the same interface to represent valuesassociated with more than one tradeable object.

In another embodiment, the icon oriented execution interface coulddisplay one or more charts related to one or more tradeable objectselected by a trader for trading. For example, the chart may displayhistorical and real time quotes associated with the selected tradeableobject. In such an embodiment, the chart may be displayed in relation toa time axis, and the time intervals displayed in relation to the timeaxis could be user configurable. Also, the time displayed in relation tothe time axis may represent past and/or future time.

According to one example embodiment, when the application 204 activatesthe icon oriented execution interface and displays execution icons, atrader may select one of the icons and position the selected icon inrelation to a value axis, such as in relation to a specific price levelon a price axis, for example. To do that, a trader may drag an icon to aposition on the interface corresponding to the desired price level atwhich the trader wishes to place an order. It should be understood thatmore than one point on the interface may correspond to a specific pricelevel. For example, if a value axis corresponding to a price axis isdisplayed vertically, a trader may position an icon at a specific priceby placing it at any point corresponding to a y-coordinate of thedesired price displayed in relation to the price axis. Alternatively, ifthe graphical interface displays a chart, a trader could place an iconin relation to any point on the chart, and the application 204 couldresolve a price level for an order corresponding to the icon based onthe selected point on the chart. It should be understood that the tradercould use any pointing means to drag an icon to a desired price level onthe interface, and some of the means may include a mouse, a joystick, astylus, or a human finger when an appropriate display interface is used.

In one embodiment, once the GUI interaction component 306 detectsplacement of an icon in relation to a specific price level on theprovided graphical interface, for example, the trading application 202can be ready to send an order corresponding to the icon when one or moreconditions associated with the icon are satisfied. It should beunderstood that the conditions could be based on any trader-relatedevents, exchange-related events, or may be related to detectingpredefined states corresponding to other orders. For example, an ordercorresponding to an icon may be submitted to an exchange upon detectinga predetermined user input associated with a request to send the orderto the exchange, or upon detecting that a trader's profit or lossreaches a predetermined level. The exchange-related events may be ofmany different types, such as detecting a predetermined price levelrelated to one or more tradeable object, detecting a predeterminedvolume being traded, or may include any different events. Also,submission of an order corresponding to an icon may depend on detectinga fill corresponding to another order. However, it should be understoodthat the conditions triggering submission of an order to an exchange arenot limited to the examples given above, and the conditions could takedifferent formats as well. Also, in an alternative embodiment, an ordercorresponding to an icon can be automatically submitted to an exchangewhen the GUI interaction component 306 detects placement of the icon ona graphical interface. It should be understood that since any selectedicon is auto-populated with order parameters, including, among otherparameters, an order type, a tradeable object identifier, an orderquantity, and a price that is resolved based on a position of the iconon the interface, the order may be sent to an exchange without any userintervention once one or more preset conditions are satisfied.

When an order is submitted to an exchange, the icon processing component308 may change a format of an icon corresponding to the order torepresent different states of the order. It should be understood that atrader could be alerted about many different order state changes,including order states occurring before an order is sent to an exchange,or any order state changes once an order is sent to an exchange. In oneembodiment, the icon processing component 308 may change colors of theicon to represent different states of the order. For example, greencould be used to represent an order that has been sent and successfullyreceived at an exchange, red could represent an order that has beencancelled and confirmed by the exchange, blue could represent an orderthat has been sent to but not confirmed by an exchange, orange couldrepresent an order that is contingent upon another order having beenexecuted, purple could represent an order that has been cancelled butnot confirmed by an exchange, and gray could represent an order that hasa static state. It should be understood that the colors and order statesare only examples, and a trader could configure trader-preferred colorsand different order states as to which the trader wishes to be alerted.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are a flow chart illustrating one example method 400 fortrading using execution icons. The method 400 will be described inrelation to the components illustrated in FIG. 3; however, it should beunderstood that different components could also be used to execute themethod. Also, it should be understood that the flow chart only shows thefunctionality and operation of a possible implementation of the presentembodiments. In this regard, each block may represent a module, asegment, or a portion of the code, which includes one or more executableinstructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in theprocess. Alternative implementations are included within the scope ofthe preferred embodiments of the present invention in which functionsmay be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, includingsubstantially concurrent or in reverse order, depending on thefunctionality involved, as would be understood by those reasonablyskilled in the art of the present invention.

At step 402, the icon selection component 304 may select a plurality ofexecution icons from an icon library to represent order types availablefor a tradeable object selected by a trader. According to an exampleembodiment, the icon selection component 304 may initiate the process ofselecting the icons once a trader logs in to an exchange and selectstradeable objects that the trader wishes to trade. At step 404, the GUIinteraction component 306 provides via the output interface 316 theplurality of execution icons and a graphical interface that a trader canuse to place orders to an exchange. In one embodiment, the graphicalinterface, as described above, may include one or more value axes, suchas a price axis, for example, and a trader may place icons in relationto the value axis. Also, the graphical interface can display a chartillustrating historical and real-time market data corresponding to thetradeable object. In such an embodiment, to place an order, a tradercould position an icon corresponding to a desired order type in relationto any point on the chart, and the icon object oriented executionapplication 300 could resolve the price for the order based on theselected point on the chart. According to one preferred embodiment, thechart is displayed in relation to a price axis and a time axis; however,different embodiments are possible as well.

At step 406, the GUI interaction component 306 detects a trader's inputplacing an icon on the graphical interface, and, at step 408, thegraphical interface displays the selected icon once the trader placesthe icon at a desired price level. Referring to FIG. 4B, at step 410,since the icon is auto-populated with the order parameters, the iconprocessing component 308 may determine order parameters based on theselected icon. Depending on the system configuration, at step 412, theicon object oriented execution application 300 or the tradingapplication 202 may send the order to the exchange upon detecting one ormore conditions defined for the order. As described in reference toearlier figures, the conditions can take many different formats, and canbe based on market conditions, execution of other orders, time, or anyother user-defined conditions.

When the order is submitted to the exchange, at step 414, the iconprocessing component 306 may start monitoring order state changes basedon the information being provided by the exchange or based on useractions detected in relation to the icon. Then, when the icon processingcomponent 306 detects an order state change, a format of the icon may bechanged to reflect the order state change. As mentioned in earlierparagraphs, the icon processing component 308 can change colors of theicons based on a number of default or user-configured colors fordifferent order states, such as exchange-based state changes, useraction based state changes, or the combination thereof. For example, theexchange-based order state changes may include receiving a confirmationthat an order has been received at an exchange, or receiving partialfill information for the order from the exchange, or that state ofexchange or server connectivity. The trader-based order state changesmay include, for example, detecting a user request to place, modify, orcancel an order. Also, a predefined color can be used to reflect astatic state for an order, such as when the order is displayed on agraphical interface, but it has not been sent to an exchange yet. Itshould be understood that icon formats and colors could reflectdifferent state changes as well. For example, icon formats could alsochange based upon user selection of icons, dragging of icon, or placingicons on the interface.

FIG. 5 illustrates a number of example order execution icons that can beused to represent different order types. More specifically, a rectanglecan be used to represent a limit order 502, an octagon can be used torepresent a stop order 504, an octagon with an interior “L” can be usedto represent a stop limit order 506, an octagon with an interior starcan be used for a trailing stop order 508, a square with an arrowpointing down can be used for a stop and reverse position order 510, anda circle can be used for a market order 512. It should be understoodthat the order types and graphical representations thereof in FIG. 5 areonly examples, and different indicator representations for the same ordifferent order types could also be used.

As mentioned earlier, when a trader logs in to an exchange and selects atradeable object for trading, the icon object oriented executionapplication 204 may display a graphical interface and a toolbardisplaying a number of icons corresponding to different order types thatthe trader can use to trade the tradeable object. FIG. 6 is a blockdiagram illustrating one example order execution toolbar 600 that can bedisplayed in combination with a graphical interface. The order executiontoolbar 600 includes six order icons described in reference to FIG. 5.As shown in FIG. 6, each order icon may be associated with a pull downmenu enabling a trader to modify default values that have been presetfor the icon. As illustrated at 602, a trader can use the pull down menuto select an order quantity 604, a time when the order should besubmitted to an exchange 606, or an exchange to which the tradeableobject should be submitted 608 (such as when a tradeable object isoffered at more than one exchange, and the trader is willing to have hisorder sent to any of the exchanges). Additionally, the order executiontoolbar 600 may allow a trader to select another tradeable object thatthe trader wishes to trade by simply selecting a tradeable object 610icon of the pull down menu. It should be understood that when a traderselects one of the icons on the pull down menu 602, another pull downmenu may be displayed to represent choices associated with the selectedicon. For example, the selection of the order quantity icon 604 on thepull down menu 602 may invoke another menu with specific quantity valuesthat the trader may select for trading. It should be understood that thepull down menu options are only examples, and different order-related,exchange-related, or trader-related options could be provided as well.

In addition to placing single orders to an exchange using orderexecution icons, a trader could use the icons to build his tradingstrategies. A trading strategy may be defined with a complex orderincluding two or more orders, where at least one order is dependent onone or more other orders in the group. For example, an Order CancelsOrder (“OCO”) is one example of such a complex order. The OCO typicallyincludes a combination of two orders that control possible loss andpossible profit that can be made when another independent order getsfilled.

One example embodiment for entering orders for a trading strategyincluding an OCO will be described in reference to three orders, anentry order, a profit order, and a risk order. FIG. 7 is a block diagramillustrating one example graphical representation of a trading strategy700 including an OCO order using icons of the present invention. Thetrading strategy 700 includes an entry order 702 and an OCO orderrepresented with icons 704 and 706. The graphically represented tradingstrategy 700 also illustrates order precedence defined using arrows, inthis example. However, it should be understood that different graphicalrepresentations for defining order precedence could also be used, suchas numerical indicators, for example. In this example embodiment, oncethe parent order associated with the icon 702 is filled, the OCO orderpair is submitted to an exchange. It should be understood that thegraphical representation of the trading strategy 700 could alsorepresent a relationship between the OCO order pair corresponding to theicons 704 and 706. As known in the art, when one of the OCO orders getsfilled, the other is automatically cancelled. Such order relationshipmay be represented by linking the two icons with a predefined linepattern/color, or by using any other user-defined graphicalrepresentation in relation to the icons.

FIG. 7 illustrates the entry order 702 using a stop order; however, theentry order could include different order types as well, such as a limitorder, a stop limit order, or a market if touched (“MIT”) order. Also,it is assumed in FIG. 7 that the icon 702 corresponds to a sell stoporder, and the OCO order icons 704 and 706 are buy stop and buy limitorders, respectively. According to a preferred embodiment, when a traderplaces an entry order icon on the graphical interface, the iconprocessing component 308 may automatically detect whether the iconcorresponds to a buy order or a sell order based on a position of theicon in relation to an inside market and an order type corresponding tothe selected icon. For example, if a trader places a limit order icon ora market if touched order icon below the inside market, the iconprocessing component 308 will resolve such orders as buy orders. Then,if the same icons are placed above the inside market, the orderscorresponding to the icons will be automatically marked as sell orders.In contrast, if a trader places a stop order icon or a stop limit ordericon below the inside market, the icon processing component 308 willprocess such orders as a sell stop order and a sell stop limit order,respectively. If the same icons are placed above the inside market, theicons will correspond to buy orders. It should be understood that theexample embodiments for automatic detection of buy and sell orders basedon position of an icon in relation to an inside market are not limitedto the order types given as examples above and could be applied inrelation to different order types as well. Also, an icon may beautomatically designated as a buy or a sell based on clicking the iconwith a predetermined mouse button. For example, the right mouse buttoncould correspond to a buy, and a left mouse button could correspond to asell.

Referring back to FIG. 7, when a trader initiates creating the tradingstrategy 700 including an OCO order pair, the icon oriented executionapplication 300 may also control the sequence of positioning of ordericons on the interface. In one preferred embodiment, the trader willfirst select and drop an entry order icon, the icon 702 in FIG. 7, thena risk stop, the icon 704, and finally an icon corresponding to a profitorder, the icon 706 herein. However, it should be understood thatdifferent embodiments are possible as well, and the trader couldposition icons on the graphical interface in any trader definedsequence.

It should be understood that the trading strategy is not limited tousing OCOs and could encompass any trader-defined strategy enabling atrader to link a plurality of different orders and to define a number ofconditions that can be used by the icon oriented execution application300 to determine when each order should be sent to an exchange. In oneembodiment, a trader could define a trading strategy such that a fill ofone order may trigger a process of sending another order correspondingto the same or different tradeable object to the same or differentexchange.

FIG. 8 illustrates two example trading strategies 802 and 804 formed byconnecting a plurality of order execution icons. It should be understoodthat the trading strategies illustrated in FIG. 8 are only examples, andmore or fewer orders or different order types could be used to formtrading strategies.

Referring to the trading strategy 802, the order execution icons 806-816are connected by lines with arrows indicating the order executionprecedence. In the embodiment illustrated in relation to the tradingstrategy 802, since all arrows are pointing away from the order 812, theorder 812 is the main independent order that controls the execution ofother dependent orders. It should be understood that a trader may definea number of conditions defining when each dependent order should besubmitted to an electronic exchange. In one embodiment, the conditionsmay be based on a predetermined trigger detected in relation to anotherorder. In such an embodiment, the order corresponding to the icon 806could be submitted to an electronic upon detecting a fill in relation tothe order corresponding to the icon 808, and the order quantity of theorder associated with the icon 806 may depend on the filled orderquantity of the order corresponding to the icon 808.

Also, the determination as to which dependent order is submitted to anelectronic exchange may depend on a direction of the market. Forexample, when the order corresponding to the icon 812 is filled, theicon object oriented execution application 300 could either triggerplacement of the order 816 or 810 depending on the current direction ofthe market. Alternatively, both orders can be automatically submitted toone or more exchanges, depending on the user configuration. It will beapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many differentconfigurations are possible as well.

Referring back to FIG. 8, the trading strategy 802 also includes a timedorder corresponding to the icon 814. The timed order is illustrated asan order that depends on the order corresponding to the icon 812. Thetimed order can be associated with a number of time-based conditions.For example, one time could define when the order 814 should besubmitted to an exchange once a fill for the order 812 is detected.Alternatively, the timed order can be submitted to the exchange at somespecified time when no order quantity associated with the order 812 isfilled until some specified time. It should be understood that differentembodiments are possible as well.

The second trading strategy includes four orders corresponding to icons818-824, where the icon 820 corresponds to the main independent order,and the other icons correspond to the dependent orders. The executionand placement of the dependent order may depend on any conditionsdescribed above in relation to the trading strategy 802; however, itshould be understood that different trader-defined rules could also beused. For example, in addition to making some orders contingent onexecution of another order, an order quantity corresponding to adependent order may be contingent on an order quantity that is filledfor an independent order. In such an embodiment, if only a portion ofthe independent order is filled, and one or more dependent orders arerespectively triggered, the original order quantities of the dependentorders may be dynamically adjusted based on the order quantity filledfor the independent order.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating another example embodiment forrepresenting a trading strategy 900. The trading strategy 900 includesthree orders represented with three icons 902, 904, and 906. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, the icons include graphical indicatorsthat may enable a trader to quicker distinguish an independent orderfrom dependent orders. More specifically, the icon 904 corresponds tothe independent order and includes two graphical indicators 910 and 912on both sides of the icon 904 from which the lines connecting otherorders originate. Then, dependent orders include single indicators, suchas indicators 908 and 914 corresponding to dependent orders 902 and 906,respectively. It should be understood that the indicators correspondingto independent orders and dependent orders could also be color-coded toenable a trader to distinguish the two order types even quicker. Also,it should be understood that the indicators could take different formatsas well, such as numbering of orders based on the order dependency.

In addition to indicators that represent order dependency, the ordericons 902 and 906 corresponding to the dependent orders include timesetting icons 916 and 918 that can be used by a trader to define a timewhen each order should be submitted to an exchange. For example, whenthe order icons are displayed on a graphical interface in relation to atime axis, a trader could drag each time setting indicator to a positionon the interface corresponding to a desired future time when the traderwishes to have the order submitted to an exchange. In one embodimentwhere the axis displays past time, the axis could be dynamically movedwith the movement to time setting indicator to enable a trader toposition the indicator at the desired future time on the axis.

Also, indicators corresponding to orders may display an order quantitycorresponding to each respective order. The order quantitiescorresponding to orders associated with the indicators 902-906 aredisplayed in rectangular boxes 920-924 attached to the left sides ofeach indicator. However, it should be understood that order quantitiescould be displayed in relation to the indicators in any otheruser-configurable manner, and order quantities corresponding to theorders could be modified by changing the size of each icon.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are block diagrams illustrating graphical interfaces1000A and 1000B that can be used for pre-configuring orders using iconsaccording to one example embodiment. In one embodiment, the iconoriented execution application 202 may display the graphical interface1000A when a trader logs in to an exchange and selects a tradeableobject that he wishes to trade.

Each graphical interface includes a value axis 1008 that in this exampleembodiment displays a number of price levels associated with thetradeable object. In one embodiment, the value axis 1008 may be a staticaxis or scale of values, such as prices, and the portion of the axis1008 that is being viewed may be changed by scrolling up or down theaxis or by entering a repositioning command. Alternatively, values donot need to be displayed in relation to the axis 1008. Also, the valueaxis can be displayed horizontally, n-dimensionally, or in any otherfashion. It should be understood that while the example embodiments forusing order execution indicators are described in reference to thedisplay illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the present invention is notlimited to any particular display. For example, the embodimentsdescribed herein could be used with the MD Trader™-style display.Portions of the MD Trader™-style display are described in U.S. Pat. No.6,772,132, entitled “Click Based Trading With Intuitive Grid Display ofMarket Depth,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,127,424, entitled “Click Based TradingWith Intuitive Grid Display of Market Depth and Price Consolidation,”U.S. Pat. No. 7,389,268, entitled “Trading Tools For ElectronicTrading,” and U.S. Pat. No. 7,228,289, entitled “System and Method forTrading and Displaying Market Information in an Electronic TradingEnvironment,” filed on Feb. 28, 2003, the contents of each areincorporated herein by reference.

Referring back to FIG. 10A, the interface 1000A also includes an orderexecution icon toolbar 1006 that has been described in greater detail inreference to FIG. 6. As described in reference to FIG. 7, the iconprocessing component 308 can automatically detect whether an order is abuy or a sell order based on a position of an icon in relation to aninside market, and further based on order type associated with theselected icon. However, rather than using the automatic detection, theorder execution icon toolbar 1006 may enable a trader to select a buyorder or a sell order in relation to each icon by simply selectingeither buy or sell in a pull down menu associated with the desired icon.Alternatively, two different order execution icon toolbars could bedisplayed, with one corresponding to buy orders and anothercorresponding to sell orders. Additionally, the interface 1000A provideshistorical and real-time market data in a chart format at 1010, wherethe market data illustrated at the most right hand side of the chart1010 correspond to the present time. In the illustrated embodiment, thehistorical and real-time market data are displayed in a bar chartformat. However, it should be understood that different types of chartsor non-charting applications could also be used to represent historicaland present time quotes.

According to one example embodiment, the interface 1000A allows a traderto electronically transmit orders to an exchange by selecting one of theicons from the icon toolbar 1006, and dragging the icon to a position onthe interface corresponding to a predetermined price, as shown inrelation to an icon 1002A. As mentioned in reference to earlier figures,the order corresponding to the icon can be automatically submitted to anexchange upon detecting one or more conditions. Alternatively, the ordermay be automatically sent to an exchange once the icon is dropped at adesired price level on the interface. Also, it should be understood thatwhile the icon 1002A is being moved to a desired price level, the tradercan view the price levels during the process of moving the icon to thedesired price level. As illustrated in FIG. 10A, such prices can bedisplayed in relation to the icon 1002A, such as in a block illustratedat 1004. Also, as mentioned in reference to preceding figures, the iconobject oriented execution application 204 can resolve the prices basedon a position of the indicator in relation to the axis, such as based ona y-coordinate position of the icon on the interface in this particularexample. Alternatively, if the trader selects a specific point on thechart, the application 204 can resolve the price for the new order usingthe selected point on the chart.

Referring to FIG. 10B, once the trader drops the icon at the desiredprice level, as shown at 1002B, the trading application 202 can be readyto send the order to an exchange once one or more conditions aresatisfied. Also, the interface 1000B can display an order ticket 1012reflecting order parameters when the order will be sent to an exchange.The order ticket may include trader-related as well as order statusrelated information. The example order ticket 1012 includes a trader'saccount identifier, a tradeable object identifier associated with theorder, a price level at which the order has been placed, and an orderquantity. Also, the order ticket 1012 defines whether the order is a buyorder or a sell order, and the status of the order. In the example givenin relation to FIGS. 10A and 10B, the order is a sell order, and thedisplayed status of the order is “sent.” It should be understood thatthe displayed status of the order may change as the icon object orientedexecution application receives additional information from the exchangeor detects a user action, such as a user canceling the order from theexchange. In one embodiment, a trader could cancel an order by simplydragging an icon corresponding to the order away from the graphicalinterface. Alternatively, the interface could include a designatedlocation to which a trader can drag an icon to cancel an ordercorresponding to the icon. However, it should be understood thatdifferent methods for canceling orders could also be used, such asdetecting a predetermined key combination input, or clicking on an iconusing a predefined mouse button.

FIGS. 11A-11D are block diagrams illustrating graphical interfaces1100A-1100B that can be used by a trader to configure tradingstrategies. The interfaces include the interface elements that have beendescribed in relation to FIGS. 10A and 10B, including a price axis 1108,an icon toolbar 1106, and a chart 1110 providing historical and realtime market data, such as any market quotes, related to a tradeableobject. Referring to FIG. 11A, a trader may place a first order thatwill be sent to an exchange upon detecting one or more predefinedconditions by selecting one of the icons on the toolbar 1106 and placingthe icon at a desired price level, such as an icon 1104. In oneembodiment, when the trader selects the icon 1104 from the toolbar, oneof the options from a pull down menu may include a trading strategyoption that, when selected by the trader in relation to the first order,may automatically launch the process of creating a trading strategy. Insuch an embodiment, the first icon selected by a trader may beassociated with an independent parent order. Referring back to FIG. 11A,once the parent order icon is placed on the interface, the icon objectoriented execution application 202 may display an order ticket 1102defining potential order related and trader related information once theorder corresponding to the icon is sent to an exchange.

When the trader places the parent order icon on the interface, the nexticon selected by the trader and corresponding to a dependent order maybe graphically linked to the icon 1104 to illustrate the order executionprecedence. For example, in FIG. 11B, the trader may select a secondicon to correspond to a dependent order. Such icon, as illustrated at1114, may be displayed in relation to, and may be linked to the icon1104. When the trader drops the icon 1114 in relation to a specificpoint on the interface, an order ticket 1112 corresponding to the icon1114 could be displayed in relation to the parent order ticket 1102. Itshould be understood, and as illustrated in FIG. 11C, the tradingstrategy may be associated with more than two orders. The graphicalinterface 1100C also illustrates an order ticket 1116 corresponding to asecond dependent order associated with an icon 1118. FIG. 11D is a blockdiagram illustrating the trading strategy and order tickets with amodified order state statuses. More specifically, the status of eachorder, as illustrated in each order ticket, corresponds to the sentstatus.

FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate creating a trading strategy using a singlegraphical interface corresponding to the same tradeable object. However,it should be understood that a trader could create trading strategies bylinking icons on different graphical interfaces, where the iconscorrespond to order types associated with different tradeable objects.Alternatively, as mentioned in reference to earlier figures, two or morevalue axes could be displayed in relation to a single graphicalinterface, and the value axes could correspond to different tradeableobjects. For example, the value axes could be displayed in two differentareas of the graphical interface, and an order icon can be automaticallyassociated with a specific tradeable object based on the icon positionin relation to one of the axes. Further, alternatively, two or morecharts corresponding to different tradeable objects could be displayedon a single graphical interface, and positioning of an icon in relationto any point on one of the charts may be used to determine a tradeableobject that a trader wishes to trade. It should be understood thatdifferent embodiments could also be used.

FIGS. 12A-12C are block diagrams illustrating graphical interfaces1200A-1200C that can be used to display different states of an orderaccording to one example embodiment. Referring to FIG. 12A, theinterface 1200A includes a price axis 1202, a time axis 1218A, a chart1216A illustrating historical and real-time quotes, and a graphicalrepresentation of a moving average 1214A that can be determined based onthe values corresponding to the chart 1216A. The graphical interface1200A also shows the identifier 1204 of the tradeable objectcorresponding to the chart and orders, and a time interval increments1206 selectable by a trader and to be used in relation to the time axis1218A. The interface 1200A also illustrates two icons 1210A and 1212Aassociated with two orders defined as a trading strategy. As illustratedin FIG. 12A, the icon 1212A is associated with a dependent order, theexecution of which depends on the order corresponding to the icon 1210A.

FIG. 12B shows the graphical interface 1200A of FIG. 12A at the timewhen the first order is filled as illustrated with an icon 1210B. Also,the order corresponding to the icon 1212B is still pending at theexchange. Also, the chart 1216A and the moving average 1214A have beenupdated to reflect historical and current quotes related to thetradeable object, as shown at 1216B and 1214B.

FIG. 12C shows the graphical interface 1200A at the time when the secondorder gets filled. Once again, the chart 1216C and the moving average1214C reflect the updated quotes and the updated moving average relatedto the tradeable object. Also, the format of the second indicator hasbeen updated, as shown at 1212C, to reflect the status change of thesecond order.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a graphical interface 1300 thatcan be used to by a trader to automatically control an order quantity ofan order using a preset risk management method. Similarly to the earlierdescribed graphical interfaces, the interface 1300 includes a tradeableobject identifier 1302, a time increment selection input 1304 for a timeaxis, a price axis 1306, a time axis 1308, a quote chart 1310, and anicon toolbar 1312. The interface also displays a trading strategyincluding three orders 1314-1318 associated with three order tickets1320-1324. According to one example embodiment, a trader can modify anorder quantity of each or some orders corresponding to the tradingstrategy using a predefined risk management formula or method. Some ofthe risk management methods may include fixed fractional, constantleverage, Kelly's formula, Martingale, anti-Martingale, asymmetricalleverage, and many currently known or future methods.

Referring back to FIG. 13, a trader may automatically configure an orderquantity of each or some orders corresponding to the trading strategybased on a preset formula by initially drawing a selection box aroundthe icons corresponding to the trading strategy, as shown at 1326, andthen selecting a risk “R” icon at 1328. Once the trader selects the riskicon 1328, the size of each order icon can be respectively changed toreflect the order quantity changes based on the risk management method.The order tickets 1320-1324 will reflect the order quantity changes aswell.

The above description of the preferred embodiments, alternativeembodiments, and specific examples, are given by way of illustration andshould not be viewed as limiting. Further, many changes andmodifications within the scope of the present embodiments may be madewithout departing from the spirit thereof, and the present inventionincludes such changes and modifications.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that methodsinvolved in the system and method for trading in an electronic tradingenvironment using execution icons may be embodied in a computer programproduct that includes one or more computer readable media. For example,a computer readable medium can include a readable memory device, such asa hard drive device, CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a computer diskette, havingcomputer readable program code segments stored thereon. The computerreadable medium can also include a communications or transmissionmedium, such as, a bus or a communication link, either optical, wired orwireless having program code segments carried thereon as digital oranalog data signals.

The claims should not be read as limited to the described order orelements unless stated to that effect. Therefore, all embodiments thatcome within the scope and spirit of the following claims and equivalentsthereto are claimed as the invention.

The invention claimed:
 1. A method for establishing a trading strategyfor a tradeable object, comprising: selecting, via a client device, afirst subset of icons from an icon library having a plurality of icons,where the plurality of icons includes at least one icon beingconfigurable to create a trading strategy including multiple orders,where each icon of the plurality of icons graphically represents adifferent order type available for trading at an electronic exchange andincludes at least one pre-populated parameter for the type of ordergraphically represented by the icon, and where the first subset of iconsis selected based on types of orders available at a first electronicexchange; receiving a first user command via the client device to selecta first icon from the first subset of icons and to move the first iconto a first location of a first value axis for a first tradeable object,where the first location represents a price of a first order for thefirst tradeable object; displaying, via the client device, a first ordericon associated with the first order at the first location; selecting,via the client device, a second subset of icons from the icon library,where the second subset of icons is selected based on types of ordersavailable at a second electronic exchange; receiving a second usercommand via the client device to select a second icon from the secondsubset of icons, to move the second icon to a second location of asecond value axis for a second tradeable object, and to create a tradingstrategy including a second order for the second tradeable object andthe first order for the first tradeable object, where the secondlocation represents a price for the second order; displaying, via theclient device, a second order icon associated with the second order atthe second location; and displaying a graphical indicator relative tothe first order icon and the second order icon via the client device,the graphical indicator graphically representing the trading strategyincluding the first order and the second order.
 2. The method of claim 1where the first value axis comprises a first price derivative axis. 3.The method of claim 2 where the second value axis comprises a secondprice derivative axis.
 4. The method of claim 1 further comprisingsubmitting the second order in response to detecting at least a partialfill of the first order.
 5. The method of claim 1 where the firsttradeable object and the second tradeable object are substantially thesame, and the first value axis and the second value axis aresubstantially the same.
 6. The method of claim 1 where the firstelectronic exchange and the second electronic exchange are different. 7.The method of claim 6 where the first tradeable object and the secondtradeable object are different.
 8. The method of claim 7 where the firstsubset of icons and the second subset of icons are different.
 9. Themethod of claim 1 where the first subset of icons is selected inresponse to a connection to the first electronic exchange and the secondsubset of icons is selected in response to a connection to the secondelectronic exchange.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first ordericon graphically represents a state of the first order and the secondorder icon graphically represents a state of the second order.
 11. Themethod of claim 1 where the graphic indicator represents an executionprecedence between the first order and the second order.
 12. Anon-transitory computer readable medium having instructions storedthereon, which when executed by a processor cause the processor to carryout acts comprising: selecting a first subset of icons from an iconlibrary having a plurality of icons, where the plurality of iconsincludes at least one icon being configurable to create a tradingstrategy including multiple orders, where each icon of the plurality oficons graphically represents a different order type available at anelectronic exchange and includes at least one pre-populated parameterfor the type of order graphically represented by the icon, and where thefirst subset of icons is selected based on types of orders available ata first electronic exchange; receiving a first user command to select afirst icon from the subset of icons and to move the first icon to afirst location of a first value axis for a tradeable object, where thefirst location represents a price of a first order for a first tradeableobject; displaying a first order icon associated with the first order atthe first location; selecting a second subset of icons from the iconlibrary, where the second subset of icons is selected based on types oforders available at a second electronic exchange; receiving a seconduser command to select a second icon from the subset of icons, to movethe second icon to a second location of a second value axis for a secondtradeable object, and to create a trading strategy including a secondorder for the second tradeable object and the first order for the firsttradeable object, where the second location represents a price for thesecond order; displaying a second order icon associated with the secondorder at the second location; and displaying a graphical indicatorrelative to first order icon and the second order icon, the graphicalindicator graphically representing the trading strategy including thefirst order and the second order.
 13. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 12 where the first value axis comprises a firstprice derivative axis and the second value axis comprises a second pricederivative axis.
 14. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 12 further comprising submitting the second order in response todetecting at least a partial fill of the first order.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 where the firsttradeable object and the second tradeable object are substantially thesame, and the first value axis and the second value axis aresubstantially the same.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 12 where the first electronic exchange and the secondelectronic exchange are different, and the first tradeable object andthe second tradeable object are different.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 12 where the first subset of icons isselected in response to a connection to the first electronic exchangeand the second subset of icons is selected in response to a connectionto the second electronic exchange.
 18. A client device displaying agraphical interface for defining a trading strategy, comprising: amemory having an icon library having a plurality of icons, where theplurality of icons includes at least one icon being configurable tocreate a trading strategy including multiple orders, where each icon ofthe plurality of icons graphically represents a different order typeavailable for trading at an electronic exchange and includes at leastone parameter for the type of order graphically represented by the icon;an icon identifier configured to select a subset of icons from the iconlibrary based on types of orders available at a connected electronicexchange; a graphical user interface having: a first value axis having afirst plurality of value levels, each value level of the plurality ofvalue levels associated with a price of a first tradeable object tradedat a first electronic exchange and a second value axis having a secondplurality of value levels, each associated with a price of a secondtradeable object traded at a second electronic exchange; an input deviceconfigured for selecting and moving: a first order icon relative to afirst location of the first value axis to graphically represent a stateof a first order for the first tradeable object and a first price forthe first order, a second order icon relative to a second location ofthe second value axis to graphically represent a state of a second orderfor the second tradeable object and a second price for the second order,where selecting and moving the second order icon creates a tradingstrategy including the second order and the first order; and a graphicalindicator between the first order icon and the second order icongraphically identifying the trading strategy including the first orderand the second order.